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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  2. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  3. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  4. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  5. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  6. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  7. The room was ________________ black, so I couldn't see a thing.
  8. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  9. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  10. She's preparing to ________________ her idea to the investors.
  11. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  12. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  13. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  14. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.
  15. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  16. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  17. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  18. The players ran onto the football ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. lean — to bend
  2. straw — to clutch at straws
  3. lean — thin
  4. bat — in an idiom
  5. lean — to rest against
  6. present — there
  7. pitch — completely
  8. bass — the fish
  9. bat — for baseball
  10. pitch — a sales talk
  11. bass — the instrument
  12. straw — a straw man
  13. present — a gift
  14. bass — low music
  15. bat — the animal
  16. present — the time now
  17. straw — dry grass
  18. pitch — a sports field

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com